Careers at DEC Metals
D.E.C. SHEET METAL INC. is a premier provider of precision sheet and plate processing solutions. We specialize in advanced laser cutting, CNC punching, bending, and assembly services for diverse industries, commitment to quality and service. With over 25 years of excellence, we drive innovation in metal fabrication.
As our operations expand to meet increasing demand, we are actively scaling our team with dedicated professionals who share our commitment to craftsmanship and precision. If you are looking to build a career in a dynamic, forward-thinking environment with opportunities for professional development, we encourage you to explore our current openings.
Sales / Estimator
Estimator / Quoting Specialist — convert customer requirements into accurate, timely, profitable quotes while protecting margin, manufacturability, and production handoff quality.
Position Summary
The Estimator / Quoting Specialist is responsible for building quote packages that DEC Metals can confidently sell, produce, and deliver — reviewing prints, customer requirements, materials, routings, outside services, machine assumptions, lead times, and margin expectations before a quote is released.
The strongest candidate is detail-oriented, commercially aware, technically practical, and fast without being careless — someone who balances customer responsiveness with quote accuracy, asks clarifying questions early, and creates clean handoffs to production once work is awarded.
Primary Accountabilities
Quote Turnaround
Respond quickly to qualified quote requests while protecting accuracy, margin, and customer communication standards.
Quote-to-Production Handoff
Ensure awarded work transfers cleanly with drawings, revisions, routing, material, pricing assumptions, and special requirements.
Margin Discipline
Build quotes using realistic labor, material, machine, outside service, setup, freight, and risk assumptions.
Quote Follow-Up
Partner with sales and customer service to follow up open quotes and learn why DEC wins, loses, or needs to revise work.
Manufacturability Review
Identify print gaps, tolerance risks, material issues, machine constraints, and customer requirements before committing.
Cost Data Feedback
Compare estimated assumptions to actual outcomes and adjust standards, routings, and risk factors over time.
Customer Satisfaction Index
Improve the customer experience through responsive quoting, clear assumptions, fewer surprises, and stronger follow-through.
Documentation Control
Maintain organized quote records, customer notes, revision history, assumptions, and approval documentation.
Core Responsibilities
- Review customer RFQs, prints, quantities, due dates, material requirements, tolerances, finishing needs, and special instructions before quoting.
- Develop quote assumptions for material, machine time, setup, labor, outside services, inspection, packaging, freight, and margin target.
- Identify missing information early and request clarification before DEC makes commitments that create production or margin risk.
- Partner with sales and customer service to prioritize quote requests based on fit, urgency, customer value, and available capacity.
- Coordinate with production, programming, purchasing, and quality when quote assumptions require technical confirmation or capacity review.
- Prepare quote documentation that is clear enough for both the customer and the internal team to understand what is included or excluded.
- Track open quotes, revisions, win/loss feedback, pricing exceptions, and recurring reasons DEC loses or underperforms quoted work.
- Review completed jobs against quoted assumptions to improve future estimates and reduce margin leakage.
- Support clean job release after award by confirming revision level, material, routing, due date, inspection expectations, and customer requirements.
- Escalate unusual commercial risk, unrealistic lead times, major price exceptions, or technical requirements outside DEC's normal capability.
Performance KPIs
| # | KPI | What It Measures | Target / Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quote Turnaround Time | Speed from qualified RFQ receipt to quote release while maintaining quote quality and clarity. | Standard quotes within 24–48 hours where feasible; complex quotes prioritized and status communicated. |
| 2 | Quote Accuracy vs. Actual Outcome | Compares estimated labor, material, outside service, setup, and margin assumptions to actual job performance. | Variance greater than 3–5 points reviewed; standards adjusted based on actuals. |
| 3 | Quote Win Rate on Target Work | Tracks whether DEC is winning the right kind of work rather than simply quoting everything. | Baseline first 60–90 days; improve win rate on target-fit accounts and products. |
| 4 | Quoted Margin Discipline | Confirms quotes are released with appropriate margin, risk factors, and approval for exceptions. | Quote margins at or above approved targets; exceptions documented before release. |
| 5 | Quote-to-Production Handoff Completeness | Measures whether awarded jobs enter production with complete prints, assumptions, revisions, material, routing, and requirements. | 98%+ complete job packets before production release. |
| 6 | Open Quote Follow-Up / Pipeline Hygiene | Tracks whether open quotes are followed up, revised, closed, or learned from instead of disappearing. | Weekly review of open quotes; aged quotes assigned next step or closed. |
| 7 | Customer Satisfaction Index | Captures customer-impacting performance through communication quality, on-time execution, defect prevention, responsiveness, and follow-through. | Baseline in first 60–90 days; target positive trend, 90%+ satisfactory feedback, every detractor reviewed with corrective action. |
Decision Rights & Escalation
Quote assumptions within approved pricing standards; clarification requests; quote prioritization recommendations; internal technical review needs; standard exclusions and documentation language.
Pricing strategy changes, margin thresholds, target customer/product fit, quote templates, costing standards, customer-specific pricing rules, and process improvements.
Major margin exceptions, unusual contract terms, high-risk tolerances, unrealistic due dates, customer disputes, capital/tooling requirements, and commitments outside approved authority.
Required Capabilities
- Experience estimating, quoting, customer service, machining, fabrication, metal processing, or industrial job costing.
- Ability to read prints, understand revision levels, identify missing information, and recognize manufacturability or tolerance risk.
- Working knowledge of material costing, labor assumptions, machine time, setup, outside services, freight, and margin impact.
- Strong documentation habits — clean assumptions, organized quote records, clear customer notes, and reliable revision control.
- Commercial judgment — understands when to move fast, when to ask questions, and when to escalate risk before quoting.
- Communication style that is responsive, precise, professional, and credible with customers and internal production teams.
- Practical technology orientation — able to use estimating tools, spreadsheets, CRM/ERP, email, and job files to maintain quote visibility.
First 90-Day Success Profile
Days 1–30
Map the current quoting workflow, open quote backlog, common RFQ types, pricing assumptions, and recurring information gaps.
Days 31–60
Install quote tracking discipline, standard assumptions, win/loss notes, and a clean handoff checklist for awarded work.
Days 61–90
Review the first set of completed jobs against quoted assumptions; present recommendations for quote standards, margin controls, and handoff improvements.
Role Fit Summary
Ideal profile: a precise, commercially aware technical estimator who can quote quickly without being careless, protect margin, and create clean handoffs from customer demand into production execution.
Apply Here
D.E.C. SHEET METAL INC.
3015 Waterfield Cir, Lakeland, FL 33803
(863) 669-0707
© 2026 D.E.C. SHEET METAL INC. All rights reserved.